About the event
Wilfred Owen’s was a life cut painfully short, yet the power of his words cast a shadow across generations. His war poetry reflects both his sensitivity and views on the horror of war, and possible PTSD caused by his own shocking frontline encounters. Yet his interest in poetry had begun long before the Great War, and had such influences as Keats, Wordsworth, and even the Bible. Owen’s lowly background required an inventive pathway to gaining an officer’s commission, and forms a window on the army and societal mores of the time. His death on the battlefield demonstrated his bravery, and lent a poignant finality to a body of work that now stands as his enduring legacy.
This talk will explore Owen’s life as a poet, scholar and soldier before examining his final battle.
Speaker
Dr Andrew Wheale is a military historian specialising in the Second World War and Special Forces warfare. In 2023 his published thesis, Ham & Jam: 6th Airborne Division in Normandy – Generating Combat Effectiveness: November 1942 – September 1944, won the Society for Army Historical Research Chapple Best First Book Prize.
Event information
- This event is free and open to all.
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